賈森·法伊費(fèi)爾 譯/張成偉

The opening sentence of our pitch1 is our most important. And too many of us are getting it wrong. 自我推銷的開場白最為重要。而我們當(dāng)中有太多人都做錯了。

A man recently connected with me on LinkedIn， and sent me this note： “Let me know if you ever need a writer.”

I guess he’s a writer？ I don’t know！ But I do know this： The phrase “Let me know if you ever need a…” shows up a lot， in my inbox and surely yours， too. I’ve come to think of it as the eight most deadly words in entrepreneurship—because that phrase is the death of opportunity. We should all step back and think： Have we used these words？ Have we used similar words？ And if so， have we failed to seize the moment？

“Let me know if you ever need a…”

Let’s break it down to understand.

First， consider the aspiration. This is written by someone hoping to provide a service. If they’re a writer， they’d like to write. Publicists or entrepreneurs might want press coverage， so they’ll tell me， “Let me know if you ever need a story about a dynamic2 CEO.” A B2B company might want Entrepreneur as a client， so they’ll say， “Let me know if you ever need a better customer service solution.”

But now consider the approach. These people are being standoffish3. Rather than selling themselves， they’re shifting the burden onto someone else to make the sale. If I need a writer， I should reach out to them. If I need a story， I should ask them for an interview. If I need a customer service solution， I should ask them for details. “Let me know if you ever need a…” sounds like an invitation， but it’s really a shrug. It’s like putting a dollar on a table and hoping someone picks it up， buys a winning lottery ticket with it， and then gives you the spoils4.

I understand where these people are coming from. They don’t want to seem pushy5. They don’t want to appear needy6. They’re afraid of sounding too self-promotional. I can appreciate the instinct. I don’t want to look pushy either！ I’m also turned off by people who appear needy！ But their approach misses something critical. “Let me know if you ever need a…” doesn’t propose any value. Is this person a good writer？ Is this CEO worthy of a story？ Is this customer service tool beloved by others in my field？ I don’t know， because when this person shifted the sales burden onto me， they also shifted the research burden onto me. They gave me no knowledge. They gave me nothing to be excited about. They showed me no opportunity.

Imagine the situation in which I’d assign a story to the writer who said， “Let me know if you ever need a writer.” I would have needed… a writer. Just any writer. Anyone who can string words together. I would have needed to be in a panic， so desperate for someone to contribute to our magazine that I’d stopped thinking about great writers， or good writers， or even serviceable writers， and simply settled for： writer.

This is not a situation that exists. The world is full of good options！ Me， and you， and everyone else—we are not living in times of scarcity. If we need a job done， there are plenty of qualified people to do it. Our question is： Who’s the best？

If you want to create opportunity for yourself， answer that question convincingly.

The first thing to do is show someone that you are the opportunity. Hiring you can help them. Telling your story is good for them. Opportunity is not a handout. It’s a symbiotic7 matching of needs—you need what I have， and I need what you have， and now we’ve got an opportunity for each other.

We need to stop hiding behind ourselves. Get out in front！ Sell yourself and your amazing abilities. Understand someone’s problem， and explain exactly why you’re the solution.

“Let me know if you ever need a...”？ No. Never. Instead， start with： “Let me explain how I can help you.”

Now I’m listening.

最近有位男士在領(lǐng)英上與我聯(lián)系，并向我發(fā)送了這樣的信息：“您若需要撰稿人請聯(lián)系我?！?/p>

我猜他是一位撰稿人？我不知道！但我確實(shí)知道的是：“您若需要請聯(lián)系我”這樣的措辭在我的收件箱中出現(xiàn)過很多次，當(dāng)然你的郵箱里肯定也有。我將其視為對創(chuàng)業(yè)最為致命的八個字，因?yàn)檫@段話意味著機(jī)會的喪失。我們都應(yīng)該回想一下：我們用過這些詞或類似的詞嗎？如果用過，我們是否未能抓住機(jī)會？

“您若需要請聯(lián)系我”

為了便于理解我們分析如下。

首先，考慮愿望。這是希望提供服務(wù)的人寫的。如果他們是撰稿人，他們想寫東西。公關(guān)人員或創(chuàng)業(yè)者可能希望獲得媒體報道，所以他們會告訴我：“您若需要有關(guān)充滿創(chuàng)新思維的首席執(zhí)行官的報道請聯(lián)系我?！逼髽I(yè)對企業(yè)的公司可能希望發(fā)展《企業(yè)邦》為客戶，因此他們會說：“您若需要更好的客戶服務(wù)解決方案請聯(lián)系我。”

但是現(xiàn)在推敲這種方法。這些人有些傲慢。他們不是在推銷自己，而是將推銷重任轉(zhuǎn)給其他人。如果我需要撰稿人，我應(yīng)該聯(lián)系他們。如果我需要一篇報道，我應(yīng)該請他們接受采訪。如果我需要客戶服務(wù)解決方案，我應(yīng)該向他們詢問詳細(xì)信息?！澳粜枰埪?lián)系我”聽起來像是邀請，但實(shí)際上卻滿不在乎。這就像在桌上放一美元，希望有人拿起它，用它購買彩票，然后給你分大獎。

我知道這些人的本意。他們不想表現(xiàn)得急于求成。他們不想顯得毫無自信。他們害怕聽起來過于自吹自擂。我能理解這種天性。我也不想顯得咄咄逼人！我也不喜歡沒自信的人！但是他們的方法缺少一樣關(guān)鍵的東西。“您若需要請聯(lián)系我”不會彰顯任何價值。這個人是不錯的撰稿人嗎？這位首席執(zhí)行官值得報道嗎？這個客戶服務(wù)工具是否受到我所在領(lǐng)域其他人的鐘愛？我不知道，因?yàn)楫?dāng)這個人把推銷的重任轉(zhuǎn)嫁給我時，他們也把調(diào)研的任務(wù)轉(zhuǎn)移給了我。他們沒有讓我了解情況。他們沒有呈現(xiàn)讓我感興趣的東西。他們沒有向我展示機(jī)會。

想象一下我將報道任務(wù)安排給對我說“您若需要請聯(lián)系我”的撰稿人。我得需要……一位撰稿人。任何撰稿人都可以。任何可以將字詞串在一起的人。我得是處于慌張狀態(tài)，迫切希望有人為我們的雜志撰稿，以至于不再考慮出色的撰稿人、令人滿意的撰稿人，甚至是有用的撰稿人，而只是隨便抓一個撰稿人。

這種情形不會出現(xiàn)。世界充滿了不錯的選擇！我，還有你，還有其他所有人——我們不是生活在人才短缺時期。如果我們要人完成一項(xiàng)工作，有很多人可以勝任。我們的問題是：誰能做得最好？

如果你想為自己創(chuàng)造機(jī)會，那就要給出令人信服的答案。

首先要做的是表明你就是機(jī)會。雇用你可以有助于他們。發(fā)你的報道對他們有益。機(jī)會不是施舍。這是需求的共生匹配，你需要我所擁有的，我需要你所擁有的，現(xiàn)在我們相互給了對方一個機(jī)會。

我們無須遮遮掩掩。要開門見山！推銷自我并展現(xiàn)自己的不凡實(shí)力。洞悉問題所在，并詳細(xì)說明為什么你能解決問題。

“您若需要請聯(lián)系我”？不，千萬別這么說。你的開場白應(yīng)當(dāng)是：“我來說說我能如何幫到您?！?/p>

現(xiàn)在我正洗耳恭聽。

（譯者單位：常州信息職業(yè)技術(shù)學(xué)院）